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Pakistan’s economy has started showing signs of recovery after the COVID-19 induced slump and the country has made steady progress to deal with the effects of the coronavirus crisis, said Pakistan Business Council (PBC) in its recent report, titled “PBC’s Charter of Economy”.

PBC highlighted several factors underlining the economic recovery. The report underscored the recent positive trends observed concerning the country’s economy. The report stated that the security conditions are now perhaps the best in recent decades; power shutdowns are a thing of the past; the flight of capital abroad is largely addressed; leakage from the formal economy into unproductive hoarding of land has been checked and there are even signs of some flowback.

Moreover, the Rupee is competitive; borrowing costs are down; jobs have been saved due to the proactive action of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP); some tax refunds have been released; import tariffs on industrial inputs are being cascaded to promote manufacturing; remittances are up and the low-cost housing initiative is promising, said PBC’s report.

The government deserves credit for managing the twin fallouts of COVID-19 i.e. health and economy, even if the threat of resurgence still looms. It is tempting to assume that, going forward, “business as usual” can safely be relied upon to restore the country’s solvency and its standing in the world, the report said.

The economic developments are welcome and should sustain the economy, however, there are fundamental issues that need to be addressed with proper planning by the government and the stakeholders.

Issues and Challenges
Pakistan is, by most accounts, the “sick man” of South Asia. Per capita earnings in Pakistan have slipped to the lowest in the sub-continent. Despite an agricultural base, 40 percent of children are stunted. The pandemic exposed the critical shortfalls in the country’s healthcare system as well. Furthermore, 44 percent of children do not attend school regularly, and a majority of those who do, receive mediocre education. Large parts of major cities are slums that lack basic utilities, including clean drinking water.

An estimated five million people are unemployed, and an additional two million reach the age of employment each year. This puts a collective pressure on the economy and the government, which struggles to create jobs. The country has also deindustrialized prematurely. Pakistan lost its share of world exports. This is only worsened by the fact that Pakistan’s economy is consumption-based, reliant on imports even for basic goods.

Pakistan has one of the highest electricity tariffs in the world, coupled with one of the lowest productivity rates. Not only are food shortages leading to an unbearable burden of inflation, but if left unchecked, they pose a serious threat to food security as well.

Recurring external account crises have compromised the country’s economic autonomy. A bloated and ineffective bureaucracy tries to impose colonial-era regulations on a small formal sector. Successive governments have failed to broaden the tax base. Existing taxpayers carry a disproportionate burden.

Billions in tax refunds, rebates, and duty drawbacks are owed to exporters and other businesses. Due to the shortage of funds, the state fails to meet its obligations to improve the quality of life of its citizens.

A reviving economy provides a valuable opportunity for key stakeholders to come together on a single platform to formulate a strategy to sustain it.

PBC’s Recommendations
Pakistan Business Council aims to unite all stakeholders on a common platform to arrest the steady decline in people’s living standards and put the economy on a sustainable growth trajectory.

In articulating this Charter of Economy, the Pakistan Business Council focuses on five major thrusts:

Lift the standard of living of the vast majority of the population in the low to middle-income strata.
Fix the state of our agriculture to provide food security and protect people from inflation.
Reverse the premature deindustrialization through a “Make-in-Pakistan” approach to promote jobs, value-added exports, and import substitution.
Re-skill for the future.
Formalize the economy, deregulate, transform the civil service, and reform the NAB law.

There are no short-cuts or quick-fix solutions available. The earliest a consensus can be developed, the better it would be for Pakistan.

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PSL 5 came to an end with Karachi Kings defeating Lahore Qalandars to earn their first title. Karachi’s well-disciplined bowling and Babar Azam’s exceptional batting led Karachi to their first-ever PSL title.

The tournament brought forward some brilliant individual performances by world-class cricketers such as Shaheen Afridi, Ben Dunk and Babar Azam. Let’s have a look at the best performers in PSL 5:

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Babar Azam Wins Big as Karachi Kings Clinch First PSL Title

Most Runs

PLAYER
MAT
INNS
RUNS
SR
HS
AVE

Babar Azam (KK)
12
11
473
124.14
78
59.12

Fakhar Zaman (LQ)
12
12
325
128.96
63
27.08

Mohammad Hafeez (LQ)
13
12
312
126.53
98*
39.00

Ben Dunk (LQ)
11
10
300
167.59
99*
37.50

Chris Lynn (LQ)
8
8
284
179.74
113*
40.57

Babar Azam ended as the leading run-scorer in the tournament with 473 runs at an astonishing average of 59.12. He also scored 5 half-centuries in the tournament.

Most Wickets

PLAYER
MAT
INNS
RUNS
WKTS
BBI
ECON
AVE

Shaheen Afridi (LQ)
12
12
332
17
4/18
7.11
19.52

Mohammad Hasnain (QG)
9
9
256
15
4/25
8.96
19.13

Sohail Tanvir (MS)
10
9
230
14
4/13
7.54
16.42

Dilbar Hussain (LQ)
11
11
279
14
4/24
8.08
19.92

David Wiese (LQ)
11
10
252
12
3/27
8.40
21.00

Shaheen Afridi led the bowling charts for the tournament with 17 wickets to his name.

Most Sixes

PLAYER
MAT
INNS
6S
BF

Ben Dunk (LQ)
11
10
23
179

Chris Lynn (LQ)
8
8
16
158

Shane Watson (QG)
9
9
16
157

Sharjeel Khan (KK)
12
11
16
157

Colin Munro (IU)
8
8
15
168

Australian six-hitting machine, Ben Dunk, was the leading six-hitter in the tournament. He hit 23 maximums including 12 in one innings against arch-rivals, Karachi Kings.

Highest Totals

TEAM
SCORE
OPP
RR
INNS
DATE

Lahore
209/5
Quetta
10.45
1st
03-03-2020

Karachi
201/4
Peshawar
10.05
1st
21-02-2020

Multan
199/5
Quetta
9.95
1st
29-02-2020

Islamabad
198/3
Lahore
9.90
1st
04-03-2020

Islamabad
195/5
Peshawar
9.75
1st
07-03-2020

Runners-up, Lahore Qalandars, registered the highest total of the tournament. They scored 209/5 against Quetta Gladiators with Ben Dunk scoring 93 of just 43 balls, including 10 huge sixes.

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Most Catches

PLAYER
MAT
INNS
CT
CT/INN

Fakhar Zaman (LQ)
12
12
10
0.83

Mohammad Nawaz (QG)
9
9
8
0.88

Babar Azam (KK)
12
12
8
0.66

Tom Banton (PZ)
7
7
7
1.00

Shan Masood (MS)
11
10
7
0.70

Fakhar Zaman was brilliant in the outfield as he took 10 catches in the tournament, the most by any outfield player this PSL.

The post These Are the Best Performers from PSL 2020 appeared first on .

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YouTube announced on Tuesday to add a link providing information on COVID-19 vaccines on its site. The company intends to expand its efforts to combat misinformation related to the pandemic.

The link will send YouTube users directly to competent vaccine information from a third-party source like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the World Health Organization (WHO), YouTube said in a statement.

Conspiracy theories and misinformation about the new coronavirus vaccines have recently gained traction on social media. This includes anti-vaccine personalities on YouTube and viral videos shared across multiple platforms.

Last week, a study conducted in the United States and Britain located conspiracy theories and misinformation. Such instances of misinformation make people less likely to use COVID-19 vaccines when they become available in the near future.

In October, the video platform stated that it would remove videos containing misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines. They intend to ban any content with claims that contradict consensus from prominent health authorities.

YouTube’s move on Tuesday follows promising results from two major vaccine efforts. Moderna said on Monday that its experimental COVID-19 vaccine is 95% effective. The organization based its claims on interim data from late-stage trials. Last week, Pfizer said its vaccine showed a 90 percent effectivity statistic.

Watch this space for more updates.

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The Federal Cabinet, on Tuesday, approved the extension of the online visa facility that is now available for the residents of 16 more countries.

A summary of the development that also sought the cabinet’s endorsement had been sent to the Interior Ministry in this regard.

Following the approval, the e-visa facility that was previously available for 175 countries will now be available to 191 countries and will allow their residents to apply for online visas in various categories including tourist, business, and student visas.

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The new visa facility had been approved in January last year to promote tourism in Pakistan. It allowed e-Visas to 175 countries, and visas on arrival to the residents of 50 countries as well as Britishers of Indian-origin and American citizens holding American or UK passports.

With these developments, internationally-approved tour operators were also allowed to bring tourist groups to Pakistan. It also made the procurement of work visas for business purpose convenient for the residents of 96 countries.

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Addressing the online visa launch ceremony in March last year, Prime Minister Imran Khan had termed the new visa regime as ‘a step towards Naya Pakistan’.

“This is the first step to open up the country, the Naya (new) Pakistan. Pakistan always had a mindset ‘make it as difficult as you can to grant anyone visas’, he had stated.”

Khan had vowed to make Pakistan a tourism destination for foreigners and had promised to establish new tourist destinations in KP and Balochistan.

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Babar Azam smashed an unbeaten 49-ball 63 to steer Karachi Kings to their maiden Pakistan Super League title with a five-wicket win over Lahore Qalandars at the National Stadium on Tuesday.

The all-format Pakistan captain recorded his fifth half-century of the 2020 edition, which was studded with seven fours, as Kings chased down the 135-run target with eight balls spare. This was his 46th half-century in the format.

Kings were provided a steady beginning as Babar added 23 and 26 runs for the first and second wicket with Sharjeel Khan (13 off 12) and Alex Hales (run-a-ball 11) after which he stitched a 61-run alliance for the third wicket with Chadwick Walton (22 off 27) that settled the game in his side’s favor.

With 11 runs left in the last three overs, Haris Rauf took two back to back wickets as he dismissed Iftikhar Ahmed (four off six) and Shane Rutherford (0) to give Qalandars’ fan a glimpse of hope, but Kings’ captain Imad Wasim took his side home with 10 not out off seven balls.

Babar finished as the highest run-getter of the tournament with 473 runs at an impressive average of 59.12 and a strike rate of 124.14 and, as such, he bagged the coveted PSL 2020 Player of the Tournament award and Best Batsman of the Tournament award.

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Qalandars’ pacer Dilbar Hussain was the other bowler to take two wickets as he returned 4-0-28-2.

Earlier, Qalandars had managed only 134 runs at the loss of seven wickets after their captain Sohail Akhtar elected to bat.

The opening pair of Tamim Iqbal and Fakhar Zaman provided a cautious start with a 68-run alliance in 10.1 overs.

The two, however, failed to build on it as they were dismissed in a span of four balls by Umaid Asif in the 11th over. Iftikhar Ahmed caught both batsmen.

Tamim, who scored 35 off 38 balls, which included four fours and a six, was the first wicket to fall, while Fakhar followed him back after adding 27 runs to the total from 24 balls, four of which were hit for a boundary.

Problems compounded when Mohammad Hafeez (two off four) got out trying to slog Imad Wasim as Qalandars lost three wickets for two runs in seven balls.

From there on, Qalandars lost wickets on regular intervals as Samit Patel (five off eight), Ben Dunk (11 off 14) and Sohail (run-a-ball 14) fell in the 14th, 16th and 19th overs.

That Qalandars’ bowlers had something to bowl at was because of Shaheen who helped his side gather 15 runs off the last over. Shaheen smashed Mohammad Amir for a six – which was the second and the last of the innings – and a four on the second and penultimate ball of the innings, respectively.

Six of the seven Qalandars’ wickets were shared between three pacers – Umaid (two for 18), Waqas Maqsood (two for 18) and Arshad Iqbal (two for 26) – while Imad returned one for six.

Qalandars’ Shaheen won the Best bowler of the PSL 2020 award with 17 scalps – the most in the edition – at a strike rate and economy rate of 16.4 and 7.11 and Ben Dunk won the Best wicketkeeper of the PSL 2020 award for accounting for nine batsmen behind the stumps.

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Peshawar Zalmi’s Haider Ali was declared as the Emerging Player of the PSL 2020 as he scored an impressive 239 runs at a strike rate of over 157.

Scores in brief:

Karachi Kings beat Lahore Qalandars by five wickets

Lahore Qalandars 134-7, 20 overs (Tamim Iqbal 35, Fakhar Zaman 27; Waqas Maqsood 2-18, Umaid Asif 2-18, Arshad Iqbal 2-26)

Karachi Kings 135-5, 18.4 overs (Babar Azam 63 not out, Chadwick Walton 22; Dilbar Hussain 2-28, Haris Rauf 2-30)

Player of the Match – Babar Azam

Player of the Series – Babar Azam

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The Punjab government has approved the up-gradation of the Institute of Child Health to the University of Child Health Sciences to counter the challenges related to the health of mothers and children. The decision was made during the cabinet meeting on Monday, with Chief Minister Usman Buzdar in the chair.

During the post-meeting press briefing, Special Assistant to Chief Minister on Information, Dr. Firdous Ashiq Awan, said that the varsity will have three schools including the School of Postgraduate Nursing, the School of Allied Medical Sciences, and the School of Paediatrics.

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The move will help the institution collaborate with other international universities to benefit from their expertise in improving mother-child health.

The development will provide capacity-building opportunities to the doctors, nurses, and paramedical staff and also extend its services across the provinces, especially to the rural areas.

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The cabinet has also approved to change the names of government-run degree colleges while also abolishing BA/BSc and MA/MSc programs from January 1. The colleges will be called ‘associate degree colleges’ and ‘graduate colleges.’

The meeting approved the re-enactment of the Punjab Overseas Pakistanis Act, 2014, and amendments to the act.

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